Lyda May Trueblood: Murderer And Black Widow

Lyda May Trueblood was born 16 Oct 1892 in Keytesville, MO to William Jefferson Trueblood (1864-1928) and Elizabeth Laura Drinkard (1869-1940). William was a farmer and he and Elizabeth had six children.

1) Olivier Franklin Trueblood 1887-1949
2) Blanche May Trueblood 1889-1962
3) Lyda May Trueblood 1892-1958
4) Everette Bryan "Ray" Trueblood 1896-1965
5) Beulah Edith Margaret Trueblood 1900-1983
6) William Trueblood 1901-
7) Oscar Lloyd Trueblood 1905–1998
8) Wayne Weldon Trueblood 1911–1954
9) Jeannette June Trueblood 1914–1985



Inmate #3052 Idaho State Prison











Husbands:

#1 Robert C Dooley (1887-1915) married 17 Mar 1912 Twin Falls, ID
#2 William Gordon McHaffle (1889-1918) Married 20 Dec 1916 Twin Falls, ID
#3 Harlon Charles Lewis (1885-1919) Married in 1919
#4 Edward Meyer married 10 Aug 1920 in Bunnock, ID
#5 Paul Vincent Southard (1894-1952) Married 28 Nov 1920 Los Angeles, CA
#6 Benjamin Harrison Whitlock (1888-1965) Married March 1932
#7 Hal Shaw (1892-) Married 1950

Her Victims:

Husband Insurance Money
Robert Dooley $4,600
William McHaffle $500
Harlan Lewis $3,000
Ed Myer $10,000
Paul V. Southard $10,000

She collected over $7,000

Other victims:
Brother-in-law Edward Dooley
Daughter Lorraine Marie Dooley 1913-1915


Photo of her cutie little daughter below



Here's some newspaper articles and photos












She escaped from prison:

Lyda was sentenced to 10 years to life in the state penitentiary in Boise. She occupied one of the few cells in the women's quarters of the old pen until her escape a decade later. Lyda managed to charm prison trustee David Minton, a machinist imprisoned for theft, 4 May 1931.




On the run Lyda Trueblood  become Mrs. Harry Whitlock in Denver, and continued to elude police until she was captured in July 1932. She was returned to her cell in the old pen and remained there until she was paroled in October 1941.

Except for a picnic the warden let her go on and he was dismissed promptly.




When she was paroled from prison she went to live with her sister.

Lyda died 5 Feb 1958 in Salt Lake City, UT


 She was 8 years old when the family picked up and move from Missouri to Idaho in 1900, settling in the newly opened--and very isolated--Nez Pearce reservation. According to a newspaper report, they eventually left that area in 1906 for 'her mother's health' and returned to Missouri before coming back to Twin Falls Idaho in 1907 or so.

Laura Drinkard, Lydia's mother, also had both her parents die by time she was 12 years old. William married her when she was 17 in 1886.

Her grandfather Benjamin Franklin Trueblood 

The Truebloods left Quakerism starting with Caleb Trueblood (the older William's grandfather) when he left North Carolina for Indiana in the early 1800s. After that they were, at best, Christians.
Ben Trueblood was best known as a bee keeper. His second and last wife died in the 1870s. After that he lived as a bachelor for 30 years. There is also strong evidence he suffered from syphilis as there are newspaper reports of him having incessant movements consistent with that disease.


Benjamin Franklin Trueblood



Benjamin's father was William Jefferson Trueblood also a Quaker.


William Jefferson Trueblood


I made her a tree, as I do all of whom I blog. I was impressed with her family tree lots of notable hard working people. I guess she was just money hungry sadly. People paid dearly for it including a chid that was innocent and sweet.





Comments

  1. Ben Trueblood wasn't a Quaker. The Truebloods left Quakerism starting with Caleb Trueblood (the older William's grandfather) when he left North Carolina for Indiana in the early 1800s. After that they were, at best, Christians.

    Ben Trueblood was best known as a bee keeper. His second and last wife died in the 1870s. After that he lived as a bachelor for 30 years. There is also strong evidence he suffered from syphilis as there are newspaper reports of him having incessant movements consistent with that disease.

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing this information. Feel free to use any of the material/records I believe I made her a tree on Ancestry as I do all the criminals I write about. I add all the records there too.

    Gwen

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  3. Thanks for your family tree on ancestry. Its entries do contain some errors (if you are interested). Some are for different Truebloods than those in her actual tree. For example you have an entry for 'Benjamin Trueblood' from Earlham College in Indiana. That is not Lyda Trueblood's grandfather but a different man with the same name who was known as a peace activist--see the entry itself.

    In addition there is much confusion about the number of children in Lydia's family. The actual number is 8:

    Oliver Franklin Trueblood
    1887–1949

    Blanche May Trueblood
    1889–1962

    Anna Elizabeth Trueblood
    1892–1958

    Everette Bryan Trueblood (sometimes known as "Ray")
    1896–1965

    Beulah Edith Margaret Trueblood
    1900–1983

    Oscar Lloyd Trueblood
    1905–1998

    Wayne Weldon Trueblood
    1911–1954

    Jeannette June Trueblood
    1914–1985

    Lydia Trueblood was thus third in line, the second daughter. She was 8 years old when the family picked up and move from Missouri to Idaho in 1900, settling in the newly opened--and very isolated--Nez Pearce reservation. According to a newspaper report, they eventually left that area in 1906 for 'her mother's health' and returned to Missouri before coming back to Twin Falls Idaho in 1907 or so.

    There are several subtle indications all was not quite in this family. For example, Benjamin Trueblood's first wife, Sarah Landers, appears to have left him very shortly after William J. Trueblood (Lydia's father) was born. Sarah was only 15 when she married Benjamin. Benjamin did remarry and had more children but as I said in my first post that wife died well before he did.

    Laura Drinkard, Lydia's mother, also had both her parents die by time she was 12 years old. William married her when she was 17 in 1886. I'm sure you are aware the connection between psychopathy and young motherhood.

    The family presents a very interesting case study at least to me.

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  4. Have you seen the disturbing similarities between Lyda and Lori Cox Vallow Daybell, now in jail in Idaho awaiting trial for multiple murders including at least one of her 5 husbands and two children? In certain pictures of Lyda, she bears an unnerving resemblance to Lori. If you're not familiar with Lori (and her current husband Chad Daybell) case, I urge you to familiarize yourself with it. I would like to hear back from you. If you wish, you can email me at sherriehoyer@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for commenting I am not familiar with that case, as I am usually stuck in the past with these old one and dead people only, but thank you

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    2. You really should look up Lyda and Lori & compare them.

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